Dinner Party
by PixieGirl73
Summary: Hardcastle attends a party that's held in honor of a colleague/friend of his, dragging a reluctant Mark along for the ride. Post "You Would Cry Too If It Happened to You". Posting this as a "Work in Progress" since I'm still new here and still have alot to learn in the art of fanfic writing, but thought I'd like to bounce it off here.


Dinner Party

 _I don't own the characters Hardcastle & McCormick. This is simply done for fun. – PixieGirl73_

"I don't see why I had to tag along here, I could've been back at the house, watching whatever I felt like that was on tv and just zoning out," Mark whined.

"Mark, this is a dinner party held by a very prestigious judge, a close friend of mine and-"

"And you drag me here-"

"Mark, will you let me finish? Look, I have to admit-this isn't my thing either. I'm not big on huge dinner parties. Usually when my friends and I get together, It's just us, reconnecting over a couple round of beers. I'm just here, to support him. That's all."

So, why does this involve me?"

"Good to get you out of the house. Besides, after what happened while I was in Maui, it's going to be a while before I can trust you again."

Mark sighed. Leave it to Hardcase to remind him of that nightmarish scenario. While Milton was in Maui, an old cellmate of Mark's looked him up and asked him if he would host a poker game at the Judge's Estate, only for it to turn into a crazy party where it seemed like all of L.A. showed up then the disappearance of the Judge's furniture and (most importantly!) his files.

"Milton! Glad you can make it!" A tall, elderly gentleman, in his late sixties, approached Hardcastle with his arms outstretched.

"McClelland! how've you been? You still giving young punks verbal lashings?"

"You know it! And what about you? Still giving McCormick a tight pull of the leash whenever he gets out of line?" 

Mark smirked at Hardcastle's friend. _Bite me._

Mark McCormick started to mentally zone out as the Judge and his friend reconnected. His eyes cased the party. Nope, he definitely didn't belong here. Very upscale. Ladies in beautiful evening gowns. Men in tuxes. He himself would rather be at a bar with a couple of buddies. This wasn't his scene. Then his eyes finally came to a pretty young brunette who was with an older gentleman who appeared to be in his fifties, but her eyes were checking out Mark. She mouthed the word "hi!" and licked her lips seductively.

Mark smiled and nodded. Pretty, but.. _Miss?_ R _eally? You're with a date and yet you're trying to making eyes with me?_ Mark himself may have eyes for young, pretty girls, but he had scruples. He would never try to take someone's woman away nor did he approve of a woman who had a case of "wandering eyes" while she was obviously with someone.

Then dinner was announced and everyone made their way for the long table.

Once everyone was seated, McClelland stood at the head of the table and clinked his glass with his butter knife.

"Folks! Folks, if I can get your attention for a moment?" Everyone quieted down and gave him their undivided attention.

"Thank you. I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming. Especially a big thanks to Milton C. Hardcastle, whom I went to law school with. " Everyone clapped. Milton only smiled and nodded. He'd rather all the attention go to his friend. This was his moment in the sun.

All during dinner, Mark McCormick kind of zoned out again. _I'm so bored!_ He was avoiding the "wandering eyes" of the brunette across the table from him. She was really making it awkward, because it was only a matter of time before her date would catch on to what she was doing and give Mark the "evil eye". But then his eyes caught onto something that she was doing. He couldn't help but notice that her right arm was visibly moving under the table. Then he felt something nudge his foot. He looked down. She was trying to play footsie with him!

Mark glared at the girl. _Seriously?!_ Angrily, Mark used his foot to push hers away from him, and when he did this, his napkin fell to the floor. He lifted the tablecloth a little to see where it fell and went to pick it up. Suddenly, he felt her foot on his face! Angrily, he swatted it off, like he was swatting away a pesky bee. Mark slowly straightened up, grinned sheepishly at Hardcastle, who was looking at him suspiciously, as if to say, _What are you up to?_ Then Mark looked straight at the woman across from him, wide-eyed and angry, hoping his facial expression would tell the woman to _Stop that!_

Mark looked at her date. He actually felt for the guy. Her date looked pained. He knew what she was up to. Her date looked at her, sternly, mouthing the words through gritted teeth, _Cut it out!_ He very slowly pulled his folk toward himself and the fork disappeared under the table.

Suddenly, the girl felt the angry jab of her date's fork. She gave a sound, like breath being sucked in. Most of the people sitting nearby, including Mark, looked at her, surprised.

"Sorry. A little hiccup!" She grinned. Everyone, except Mark, smiled back and went back to their own little conversations amongst themselves.

Only Mark kept watching this couple. He glared sternly at the girl all while feeling compassion for her date.

Mark shook his head, rolling his eyes in mock annoyance. Ok, he's had enough.

When the guests started to disperse, Milt and Mark also stood up from the table to take their leave. Milton went to say goodnight to his friend, while Mark stood at the table a little longer and looked down at the girl. He looked at her long and hard. She smiled and batted her eyelashes up at him, but he only narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head.

 _I know what you were doing. Shame on you. And you had the nerve to make eyes at me? I have a good mind to tell your date on you._

She looked crestfallen.

 _Ha!_ He smirked a little at her, but his smirk disappeared and he walked away from her. He looked back at her, shaking his head to show his disapproval at her behavior.

He went to go make his way to the bathroom and once he was finished, he started to go over to where Milton was still chatting with his friend, when he was accosted by "Wandering Eyes".

"Hey, there, sexy! My date and I were wondering…..um, would you be interested in um, - "Angry, Mark interrupted her.

"Uh, Miss. Let me stop you right there. First of all, how dare you!" Mark narrowed his eyes at her and bared his teeth in an angry snarl. "You were making footsie at me?! Really? Does your date really know what you're doing right now?" 

"Yeah, I-"

But Mark interrupted her again.

"Yeah, uh, no! I don't believe you! From the looks of things, your date didn't look the least bit amused or pleased by your shenanigans! Now, goodnight!"

Mark stormed away from her and went to join Milton to say goodbye to the host. He worried that Hardcastle and his friend were watching this exchange. Thankfully, they weren't. They were too engrossed in sharing courtroom stories. By the time he approached Milton and McClelland, Mark had a pleasant smile on his face. The three man exchanged pleasant goodbyes with each other, and Mark and Hardcastle took their leave.

One the way home, Hardcastle broke the silence by asking,

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You seemed to have a heated exchange of words with that young lady who was sitting across from you."

Startled, McCormick looked at Hardcastle. "You noticed, huh?"

"'Course. What was going on there?"

"Not important, Judge." McCormick smiled. Hardcastle looked at him and nodded.

Some things were simply best left alone.

THE END


End file.
